Just like Ebenezer Howard – Letchworth Minecraft kids create garden city of tomorrow in cyberspace

A portrait of Ebenezer Howard painted by Spencer Pryse. (Image: Archant)

The Garden City Collection initiative saw kids from across Letchworth come together at the Community Museum in The Arcade to build some of Letchworth’s most recognisable landmarks, using pictures of early garden city homes and buildings as inspiration.

And as well as sharing their designs and perusing the development of Minecraft Letchworth, the kids could take part in craft sessions to create a Minecraft-style portrait of Sir Ebenezer.

“Minecraft can be used in a very creative way to create bespoke projects,” said collection digitisation assistant Sophie Dimond.

Nine-year-old Mickey Lawrence making Letchworth in Minecraft (Image: Archant)

“We thought the game offered a perfect way to explain how Letchworth was planned.

“The children worked on a shared space where we zoned areas such as houses and factories, just like Ebenezer Howard did.”

Sir Ebenezer Howard gave rise the garden city movement with his 1898 book To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform, which was reprinted in 1902 as Garden Cities of To-morrow.

Nine-year-old Braiden Walker making Letchworth in Minecraft. (Image: Archant)

For more about the collection, which cares for more than 250,000 artefacts from Letchworth’s history, see gardencitycollection.com.

Nine-year-old Freya Maddams making Letchworth in Minecraft. (Image: Archant)